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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head To Wright State, Prepare For MAC Tournament
October 30, 2002 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 30, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team, having clinched the school's first-ever home berth in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, will close the 2002 regular season with a non-conference match this week. The Falcons (10-7-2, 7-4-1 MAC) of head coach Andy Richards will travel to the southwest portion of the state for a Friday (Nov. 1) match vs. Wright State University. Kickoff for that contest is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at WSU's Alumni Field.
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Following the WSU contest, the Brown and Orange will begin MAC Tournament action with a Tuesday (Nov. 5) home match, beginning at 2:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field. The Falcons' opponent will be either the University at Buffalo or Eastern Michigan University, depending on the outcome of one final MAC regular-season match this week.
The four quarterfinal winners will head to the site of the highest-remaining seed for the semifinals (Fri., Nov. 8) and championship match (Sun., Nov. 10). If the seeds hold to form, the semis and final would be held in Oxford, Ohio, as Miami won the regular-season title and earned the number-one seed for the tournament.
HEAD COACH ANDY RICHARDS
Andy Richards has performed one of the top coaching jobs in the MAC, if not the Midwest, this season. Richards is in his third year as a head coach, all at BGSU, and has an overall record of 27-27-5 heading into the WSU match. Richards, who came to BG after five years as an assistant coach at Oregon State University, was hired in April of 2000.
Ashlee Orr is in her third season with the Falcon program as well. Orr was named the BGSU assistant coach in late August of 2000.
LAST WEEKEND
The Falcons split a pair of home matches, following one of the top showings in school history with perhaps the most disappointing match of the season ... BGSU posted a 7-0 victory over visiting Western Michigan Friday (Oct. 25), before seeing Northern Illinois rally from two goals down with 20 minutes left for a 3-2 win Sunday (Oct. 27) ... sophomore Kristy Coppes had two goals and an assist in the WMU match, while senior Erika Flanders made nine saves to earn the shutout ... freshman Julie Trundle, who had a pair of assists vs. the Broncos, had a goal and an assist on Sunday vs. NIU.
BGSU CLINCHES MAC TOURNAMENT HOME BERTH
The Falcons' win over WMU clinched a home berth in the MAC Tournament -- the first in school history -- for the Brown and Orange ... BGSU, picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll, currently sits in third place in the league standings ... the Falcons will finish either third or fourth, depending upon the outcome of Friday's (Nov. 1) Ohio-Marshall match ... if Ohio wins that contest, the final MAC match of the year, the Bobcats (who currently have 20 points) will move past the Falcons into third place ... a MU win, or a tie between the Bobcats and Thundering Herd, would give BGSU third place ... the Falcons have set school records for wins (seven) and points (22) in league play ... if BG finishes third, the Falcons would host Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament ... if the Falcons are fourth, BG will face Buffalo ... the Eagles and Bulls tied for fifth in the regular-season standings, but UB earned the fifth seed for the tournament by virtue of a 2-1 win over EMU in the teams' regular-season meeting.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons, as mentioned, are 10-7-2 overall, and BGSU finished MAC play with a 7-4-1 league record ... BG has scored 33 goals and allowed 23 through the first 19 contests ... sophomore Kristy Coppes has scored 10 of the Falcons' goals this year, and leads the team with 22 points ... freshmen Julie Trundle and Samantha Meister have 15 and 13 points, respectively, while senior Jill Conover (10 points) is fourth on the team and freshman Britt Anderson (nine points) fifth in scoring ... Meister is second on the team with five goals, while Anderson, Conover and Trundle have four apiece ... Trundle has a team-high seven assists, while fellow freshman Leslie Dawley has six ... senior Erika Flanders has played every minute (1754:58) in goal, and has 120 saves and a goals-against average of 1.18.
THE OPPONENT
Wright State enters the week with an overall record of 5-7-4, and the Raiders finished Horizon League play with a conference mark of 1-2-3 ... WSU will host Ohio University in Wednesday (Oct. 30) action before closing the regular season with the BGSU match two nights later ... last weekend, the Raiders dropped a 3-0 decision at Miami Friday (Oct. 25) before battling host Loyola (Ill.) to a 1-1 tie two days later ... Wright State is 3-2-3 in home contests this year to date ... sophomore Kim Chianese leads the team in both goals (10) and points (21), while classmate Kelly Kammer has 15 points on five goals and five assists ... junior Becky Belcher also has five helpers to tie Kammer for the team lead ... in goal, junior Emily Flohre has played all but approximately 40 minutes this year, and has a 1.52 GAA ... last year, WSU finished 10-8-0 overall and had a 3-3 HL record ... head coach Scott Rodgers is in his sixth year, all with the Raiders ... he has a record of 54-55-9 ... the team's web address is www.wsuraiders.com.
THE SERIES
BGSU leads Wright State by a 1-0-0 count in the all-time series between the schools, as the Falcons won a 2-1 home match last season (Oct. 9, 2001) ... Nikki Pucillo and Kristy Coppes each had an assist in that win ... the teams actually were scheduled to meet two years ago (Oct. 4, 2000) in Dayton, but that match was called due to lightning after nearly 20 minutes of scoreless action in the first half.
A LOOK AHEAD
As mentioned, the Falcons will face either Buffalo or Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament ... both UB and EMU ended MAC play with league records of 5-5-2 ... the Bulls are 6-7-5 overall, with a Thursday (Oct. 31) home match vs. Binghamton on tap this week ... UB's balanced scoring attack is led by freshman Natalie Crofut, with eight points ... senior Elizabeth Pfeffer and junior Nicole Olzewski each have seven points ... in goal, freshman Anna-Lesa Calvert is 5-4-4 with a 1.08 GAA, while senior Emily Cox has a 1-3-1 record and a 2.38 GAA ... the Eagles, 8-9-2 overall, end the regular season with a Saturday (Nov. 2) contest at IUPUI ... junior Jessica Hupe has a whopping 36 points, and has scored 16 of EMU's 29 goals this season ... senior Aryn McCumber is 6-5-0 with a 1.27 GAA in net, while sophomore Nikki Allen is 2-4-2 with a 2.49 GAA.
SUCCESS IN EVEN YEARS
In the six-year history of the BGSU women's soccer program, the Falcons have had most of their success in the even-numbered years ... the Brown and Orange failed to qualify for the MAC Tournament in 1997, 1999 and 2001 ... but, the Falcons will participate in the league tourney in 2002, marking the third appearance in school history ... the Falcons advanced to the semifinals in 1998, losing in overtime to eventual tourney champion NIU ... BGSU also made the tournament in 2000, and advanced all the way to the championship match before losing, again in OT ... BG is 5-21-4 (.233) in MAC play in the odd-numbered years, and 16-14-3 (.530) in even years.
MEISTER TIES SCHOOL RECORD
Freshman Samantha Meister was sidelined for seven matches with a broken nose, but has returned with a vengeance ... Meister scored a goal in Friday's win over Western Michigan, marking her fifth consecutive contest with a goal ... that set a new school record ... Tracy Gleixner (Oct. 1-16, 1998) and Kristy Coppes (Sept. 7-21, 2001) each had held a share of that record, with four-match goal-scoring streaks ... Meister had 11 points in that five-match span, and, despite being held scoreless vs. Northern Illinois, now has a total of 13 points in just 12 contests this season ... Meister scored 10 points in only eight MAC matches this year.
DAWLEY TIES A SCHOOL RECORD, TOO
Freshman Leslie Dawley picked up an assist in the WMU match, marking her fourth-straight contest with at least one assist ... that set a new school record ... the old record of three consecutive matches with an assist was accomplished four times, most recently by Nikki Pucillo (Oct. 3-9, 2001) ... Dawley has six assists on the season, just one behind classmate Julie Trundle's team-leading total.
TRUNDLE TIES SEVERAL BG RECORDS AS WELL While Meister's goal-scoring streak, as well as Dawley's assist streak, came to an end in the NIU match, freshman Julie Trundle continued a few of her streaks ... Trundle had a goal and an assist vs. the Huskies ... she had an assist for the fourth consecutive match, tying the record set by Dawley in the WMU match ... Trundle scored a point in her fifth consecutive contest, matching Meister's mark set two days prior.
TRUNDLE ON TORRID PACE
Freshman Julie Trundle has heated up over the last several weeks ... she has a total of 10 points over the last five matches, on two goals and six assists ... Trundle now has 15 points on the season, good for second on the team ... she leads the Falcons with seven assists this year ... Trundle had 13 of her points in MAC contests, just one point behind team leader Kristy Coppes.
CHANGES AT THE TOP OF CAREER SCORING LIST
Perhaps the school record for career goals should be written in pencil, or at least in erasable ink ... with her goal at the 72:22 mark of the WMU match, senior Jill Conover reached the 20-career goal plateau, tying her for the BG record with sophomore Kristy Coppes and senior Tracy Gleixner ... but, just over 14 minutes later, Coppes scored to set a new record ... she added to her brand-new mark just over two minutes later, scoring in the final minute of that match ... Coppes now has 22 goals in just 38 career matches ... Conover still holds the school career records for points (65), assists (25) and match-winning goals (seven).
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
Prior to the Falcons' home MAC Tournament match next week (Nov. 5), Andy Richards may want to put his team on a bus and drive them around for a while before kickoff ... BGSU enters the Wright State match with a 5-1-2 record in away matches this season ... and, the Brown and Orange finished the road portion of the MAC schedule with a 5-0-1 mark ... BG has broken the school records for wins in each category ... both the 1998 (4-5-0) and 2000 (4-3-1) teams won four total road matches, and that 2000 squad held the old record of three MAC road victories, having gone 3-1-1 ... BGSU's only road setback this year came at the hands of Cincinnati, ranked 21st in the nation by Soccer Buzz last week before dropping out.
LOSSES TO STRONG OPPONENTS
While the BGSU players and coaches would like to win every match, the team's seven losses this year have not exactly come to soccer weaklings ... BGSU's most recent loss, to NIU, marked the first time this season the Falcons have fallen to a team with a losing record ... BG's other three MAC losses came to Miami, Ball State and Ohio, the three other teams that earned first-round home matches for the league tournament ... BG's non-conference setbacks have come to Michigan State at home, UC on the road and Missouri in neutral-site action ... not counting NIU (6-11-0), the other six opponents have a combined record of 71-24-10, for an aggregate winning percentage of .724 ... MSU is 25th in the nation in the latest Soccer Buzz poll, and the Spartans, UC, Miami and Mizzou all are ranked in their respective regions.
FLANDERS FLAWLESS VS. WMU
Senior goalkeeper Erika Flanders made nine saves to earn the shutout vs. Western Michigan ... for Flanders, the shutout was her seventh of the season, extending her own school record ... she posted four shutouts in both 2000 and 2001 ... Flanders, who holds every BGSU goalkeeping record, now has 17 shutouts in her career ... she has two career shutouts against both Marshall and Kent State, and has blanked 13 other teams once each.
MORE ON FLANDERS
Through the NIU match, senior Erika Flanders now has a career total of 456 saves ... the second-place GK on the BGSU career list, Kit Gazley, had a total of 76 saves ... in fact, Flanders has more career saves than all of the other goalies in school history combined (280).
STILL MORE ON THE GK
Erika Flanders has 120 saves and a 1.18 goals-against average this year, and is close to breaking her own single-season records in those categories ... her current records are a 1.37 GAA in 2000 and a total of 127 saves last year ... Flanders is also likely to break her own single-season mark for saves percentage ... she currently has a pct. of .839 this year, well over her existing record of .808 in 2000 ... she finished the MAC portion of the schedule with a solid 1.06 GAA in league matches ... Flanders made 75 saves in those 12 contests, with a saves pct. of .852 and five shutouts.
MAC WINS
BGSU set new records for MAC wins (seven) and points (22) ... for the first time in school history, the Falcons have finished with a winning record in MAC matches ... the 2000 team went 5-5-1 to hold the old records for wins and points (16) in conference action ... last year's BG squad went 2-9-1.
ANDERSON ANOTHER SCORER
Freshman Britt Anderson saw her goal-scoring streak come to an end in the NIU match ... Anderson had scored a goal in three consecutive matches, and now has four goals on the year ... her goal vs. WMU marked the first time that she did not score on a header, and the first time she scored a goal that was not BG's first goal of the match.
THEY START YOUNG
All 10 freshman field players on the BGSU roster have started at least one match this season ... in fact, of the 21 players who have seen action for the Falcons this year, a total of 19 have made at least one start ... eighth different frosh have scored at least one point this season.
JOIN THE CLUB
A total of three different Falcons scored the first goal of their respective collegiate careers last weekend ... sophomore Nikki Pucillo and junior Carrie Richards each found the back of the net in the win over WMU, while freshman Keeley Dayton scored her first goal as a Falcon in the NIU match.
MEET THE NEW KIDS
The Falcons' starting lineup has featured at least three freshmen in each of this season's 19 matches, and at least four frosh in each of the last 18 matches ... head coach Andy Richards has started five or more freshmen on 14 occasions ... as mentioned, a total of 10 different freshmen - every frosh field player - have started at least one match this year.
BIG WIN
The seven-goal margin of victory vs. WMU matched the second-highest figure in school history, and was by far BGSU's most lopsided win in a MAC contest ... BG downed Youngstown State by nine goals last year (10-1; Oct. 3, 2001), and the Falcons also posted a seven-goal win over Robert Morris (Sept. 6, 1998) ... in fact, prior to Friday, the Falcons had never led by more than three goals in a MAC match ... the old school record for margin of victory in a conference match was three, in 3-0 wins over Ball State (Oct. 8, 2000), Akron (Oct. 5, 2001) and Marshall (Oct. 4, 2002).
CAPTAIN'S LOG
Senior goalkeeper Erika Flanders is BGSU's team captain for the 2002 season.
NOTING THE FALCONS
BGSU's loss to NIU ended a five-match unbeaten streak, which had tied the school record ... the win over WMU was the 10th of the season for the Falcons, tying that school record ... the 2000 team finished with a 10-10-1 mark ... the Brown and Orange, currently three games above .500, will end the 2002 season with a winning record, for the first time in school history ... here's a statistical note that would seem to indicate the Falcons' depth and balance this season ... in the first 19 matches of the year, BGSU's players in the starting lineups have accounted for 16 goals and 20 assists ... the Falcon substitutes have accumulated 16 goals and 19 assists on the year ... BGSU's win over WMU was the Falcons' first-ever regular-season victory over the Broncos ... the only other win for the Brown and Orange in that seven-match series came in Buffalo, N.Y., in the semifinal round of the 2000 MAC Tournament ... the Falcons entered the WMU contest with a total of six first-half goals in 17 matches this season ... in the last two matches, BGSU has totalled five goals before the intermission ... BG's total of 27 shot attempts vs. NIU set a season high, and the Falcons' total of 12 shots on goal was the second-highest total this year ... BG had 16 SOG vs. WMU two days prior ... the Falcons, after having more shots than the opponent in just three of the first 15 matches, have held the advantage in three of the last four contests ... a total of 16 different players have registered at least one point on the season ... that total includes eight freshmen ... the frosh have combined for 15 of BG's 33 goals and 27 of the team's 39 assists ... only three players - Flanders, junior Kasey Freeman and freshman Julie Trundle - have started all 19 matches ... sophomore Kristy Coppes, BG's leading scorer overall, also led the team in scoring in MAC matches ... she had 14 points in conference play, one ahead of Trundle and four in front of freshman Samantha Meister ... as mentioned earlier, Flanders holds the school goalkeeping records in every career category, including wins (32), saves (456), shutouts (17) and goals-against average ... BGSU now has an all-time record of 46-61-9 as a varsity program ... all-time, the Brown and Orange squads have posted records of 23-30-2 at home, 19-25-7 on the road and 4-6-0 in neutral-site contests ... also, in the Falcons now have an all-time record of 6-8-9 in overtime matches ... BGSU is 3-0-7 in road OT matches, and the Falcons have a 3-1-2 mark in overtime contests with non-MAC opponents ... BGSU has set a season record for yellow cards, with 11 ... the Falcons' total of four home wins ties the school record, as BG has had four wins at Cochrane Field in five of the first six seasons of the program.
